Saved by My Scythe
by Pink Pagoda
Summary: She had trouble understanding how so many people could care about one person. She had even more trouble understanding that she was that person.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not by any means own Soul Eater.

*

"Ohhhhh..." Maka groaned as she slumped over to her bed and fell face first into her awaiting cushions. Not even bothering to remove her clothes, she let herself drift off to sleep. Right before she was pulled into an exhaustion induced dreamland, she felt her boots being tugged gently off her feet, and her coat being eased over her shoulders. _I guess Soul isn't as tired as I am...._ And then Maka allowed herself to fall into the waiting depths of her sleep deprived mind.

*

"Maka....Maka.......MAKA!! Wake up now! If you don't get up we're going to miss our first morning class!" Upon the suggestion of missing school on her account, Maka sat bolt upright and her head collided with his. Both winced in pain, but Maka cried out because she already had a headache to begin with. "Ouch, Soul...wait what time is it?"

"Close to 8:00am." He seemed calm, but he watched as the horror started to grow in Maka's tired eyes.

"Oh no! I have to get up right now." This however was probably not the most intelligent thing to do at the moment. As her feet hit the ground, her vision hazed. If Soul hadn't noticed his meister start to tip sideways, she would have fallen right to the hard wood of the floor.

"Ohhhhh...." She could only groan as Soul began to shake her gently.

"Maka, Oi Maka! Are you okay?" The concern in his voice is what eventually began to rouse her brain into gear again.

Blinking, Maka could only clear her throat as she tried to complete a coherent thought. "I'm fine Soul, just a little bit groggy." Her head cleared more as she spoke, and she slowly eased herself out of his grasp. Leaning back onto her bed, Maka looked into Soul's eyes. She tentatively noticed that there was concern laced in with his usual "too cool for school" attitude.

Unable to face such attention for much longer, Maka looked down and noticed that she was no longer wearing entirely what she had been the previous day. Her tie, sweater, and skirt that she wore had all been removed leaving her with her blouse and shorts she had chosen to wear underneath. Recalling back memories from the previous night, Maka only remembered Soul removing her boots and coat. Her calm visage was soon replaced with that of a scowl as she pieced together what must have happened.

Noticing his Meister's rapidly changing move, Soul narrowly missed a half hearted Maka chop. "Soul, might I ask why I'm only wearing half of what I was yesterday?" Becoming eerily silent, Soul was afraid to answer.

"It…would have been awkward to sleep in so many layers…I thought you would be more comfortable that way?" He formed it as a question, closing his eyes, waiting to be impaled by another one of Maka's large tomes. Instead, Maka sighed and said, "You're probably right."

Blinking, Soul watched in confusion as his Meister went to her dresser, grabbed another set of clothes, and headed off to the bathroom. _That girl never ceases to amaze._ He thought as he wandered back into the kitchen.

*

Soon enough both were ready to leave the apartment, and rushed to school via Soul's motor cycle. Normally Maka would just hold onto the seat to stay on, but this time she cautiously put her arms around Soul's waist and rested her head on his back. Surprised by her actions, but far from objecting, Soul merely nodded to himself and drove to Shibusen.

While driving, he pondered his Meister's further odd actions from that morning. When given the option of breakfast, she flat out refused, and without further explanation returned to her room. A few moments later he had heard a crash, but when he knocked on the door she professed that she was fine, and refused to let him in.

All too soon they had arrived at their school. Soul parked, and was about to get off the bike when he found that he was being kept in place by a rather drowsy anchor. Turning his head, he looked down at his partner. He didn't know whether to smile, or frown in worry. She had fallen asleep, and was now putting her full weight against her weapon.

With a small sigh of hesitation, Soul turned around and put his hands on her shoulders. Lightly shaking her, Soul managed to wake Maka from her short nap. Groaning, she pulled a face and looked around disconcertedly. "Are we here already?"

"Yes, and if we don't hurry up, we're going to be later than we already are." For the second time that morning, Soul watched his friend's eyes light up with horror.

"Well we better hurry then." With a great deal of effort on Maka's part, she hoisted herself off Soul's bike. Pausing as she leant on it for support, Maka closed her eyes, then turned around and headed up the steps to the school. Following behind her rather than beside, Soul made sure to watch her every move, lest she loose her footing and fall. He knew it would be impossible to keep her from school, but he would have to keep a close eye on her all the while.

*

They had not entered the room with much dignity, but that was of no concern to their teacher. He only cared that they had showed up. Missions had been quite hard on the pair as of late, and he was becoming concerned with their well being.

"Ahh, well I guess you two finally decided to show up. Take your seats quickly, and I will continue the lecture." Stein turned around and wrote more notes on the board for the class to copy down.

As the two walked to their seats at a slow pace, Maka caught her foot on nothing and stumbled. Had it not been for Soul, she would have fallen down the steps of the many levelled room. All eyes turned, and many faces lit up with surprise. Maka Albarn was known for her grace and poise.

Thoroughly embarrassed of herself, she silently thanked Soul and took herself out of his arms. "Sorry Stein Sensei, I must have slipped." Clearing out her throat, she walked to her seat, followed closely by Soul.

At a loss for words, Stein merely cleared his own throat, and continued with the lesson. Maka focused all her attention on the lesson, completely unaware that she was being watched not only by her Weapon, but by five other pairs of concerned eyes.

*

Barely managing to make it through the day without any further intimate meetings with the ground, Maka walked ahead of her friends and paid little attention to their typical outrageous banter.

"Black Star, could you please calm down? We're just going to play basketball." Liz turned to said hyper Meister, and frowned at him.

"No way! I need to get fired up if I want to win!"

Suddenly Maka zoned back into reality. She by no means had enough energy to be able to handle physical activity of any kind. Maka gained the attention of her companions and spoke, "Actually guys, I think I might just go home. I didn't know your guys wanted to play sports." It was typical of Maka to refuse to play sports, but this comment still made her friends worry of her well being.

Tsubaki was the first to reply, "Umm Maka-are you feeling alright? You've seemed…distracted all day."

"I'm fine, just a little tired from all the missions. You know that Soul and I have been really busy lately." Even with knowing how busy Soul and Maka were, it still didn't account for her change in attitude, and constant drowsiness.

"Even so, we would be much happier if you would accompany us to play basketball." Kid looked at her with his unreadable expression, and waited for her reply.

Sure that she was going to regret her decision, Maka finally agreed to go with them. When they arrived at the basketball court, the group of friends split into two teams. Maka was passed the ball initially, but quickly threw it to her nearest team mate, Patty. Laughing manically, Patty enthusiastically received the ball, and proceeded to complete a lay up.

They had played for a total of twenty minutes when Maka started to feel dizzy again. As she stumbled, heading towards to side of the court, someone passed her the ball. Unable to realize this until the last second, the ball hit her in the side of the head, and knocked her to the ground. Still awake, but refusing the move, Maka lay on the cement wondering how she ended up there so quickly.

Frightened by her fall, her friends quickly ran to her. Soul reached her first and turned her over. Placing her head in his lap, he called to her repeatedly. After a few moments of more unclear thoughts, Maka opened her eyes and watched as her friends faces focused slowly into view. "Ohhhh…what happened?"

"You fell Maka-Oh, I'm sorry for passing you the ball! I thought you were paying attention." Tsubaki apologized profusely, but was silenced when Maka spoke again.

"It's alright Tsubaki, it wasn't your fault. I was just getting a drink of water, and wasn't paying attention. We can start playing again right now once I get up…" Her friends remained unconvinced of her quick recovery, and watched as she struggled to get back on her feet. She only managed to get as far as shakily kneeling, before falling back into Soul's waiting arms. "…Or maybe not." Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes for a few mores seconds before trying again.

This time Soul held in place. "Maka, you're clearly not okay! Tell us what's wrong!"

Opening her eyes again, she looked into Soul's face, and watched him frown uneasily. "I…I'm just tired…"

However she was quickly cut off as her other friends began to voice their opinions on the matter. "You're obviously not Maka! Who can collapse, and say their okay one moment later!" Liz and Patty looked at each other and nodded decidedly.

"No more basketball. If you're really this tired, then you need to rest." Soul helped her to her feet, but kept supporting most of her weight.

"But I have homework, and it's my turn to make dinner and-" Maka protested, but was cut herself off as she felt another wave of fatigue wash over her. This time it was laced with nausea, and she had to reluctantly pull herself away from Soul and towards to nearest garbage can.

As she released what little she had eaten that day, Soul ran over and comforted her as much as he could. The rest could only watch with increasing concern as Maka trembled and shuddered from sheer exertion.

*

This will be a two shot, so not very long, but I hope it's interesting.

-Pink Pagoda


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.

*

Coughing and clearing her throat one final time, Maka eased herself up from her bent over position and gazed into Soul's eyes. Looking from her partner's to the rest of her friends' concerned faces, Maka realized she had to admit defeat. "I…I guess I won't be making dinner tonight." With that her body trembled, and fell into the waiting arms of her weapon.

*

Minutes passed like hours, but when she awoke the sun was no longer in the sky. Even with her eyes closed, she was aware of a scorching heat on her face. Her foggy brain couldn't seem to understand why she was so warm if it was already night time. Groaning, she turned onto her side and opened her eyes.

"So, you're finally awake." This statement was met with a vacant silence. Maka couldn't seem to locate the voice that she had heard, but soon realized that there was someone beside her, sitting on the edge of the bed. She mustered some of her remaining strength and turned once more to scout out the source of the voice.

"W…what happened?" Startled by the weak tone of her voice, Maka could only shudder and wait for the reply.

"We were playing basketball…you got sick and then collapsed. I took you home, and you've been asleep for over ten hours."

Startled by this revelation, Maka looked from her weapon to the clock sitting on her bedside table. The red etched numbers told her that it was past 2:00am. Returning her attention to the boy beside her Maka cleared her throat. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"Yes." Was the only answer that the perturbed meister received.

"Oh Soul, please don't worry about me, I'm-"

"Don't say you're fine!" He interrupted her, and paused when he saw her shocked face, and then continued, "Maka, you are really sick-you have a fever, and you threw up earlier. How on earth could that possibly be considered okay?"

Although the question was intended to be rhetorical, Maka felt the need to answer it anyway. "Okay I'll admit that collapsing could never really be considered healthy, but-"

"No 'buts'! You are going back to sleep, and you're staying home tomorrow."

"But what if I feel better tomorrow morning-we'd have to catch up on homework unnecessarily." The look in her eyes melted his stern gaze a little.

"Okay, if-and only if-you're feeling better tomorrow, I'll go to school and get our homework while you stay home. Then we can work on it together. If you do get sick again, then consider that option null and void." He watched her consider her options, and then admit defeat.

"Okay, I guess I can live with that." Pausing, she took a deep breath. "I'm….sorry."

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?" He was puzzled, and could only wait for her to reply.

"I'm sorry for…making you have to take care of me." She looked away, as if any more concern for her could hurt her more than her illness was.

He stared at her incredulously before replying. "Maka, I'm taking care of you because I'm worried and I care about you about you. What's this really about?"

"I…I just…I can't understand why you would worry about me? I'm just Maka Albarn, Scythe Technician and your partner. You really have no other obligation to me than to be my weapon. I don't get why you would be so nice to someone who couldn't protect you in return." Uncharacteristic tears fell freely down her cheeks as she spoke. Before he could reply, she continued, "You save me all the time, and all I can ever do is be a burden."

Before she could turn away and bury herself in her pillow Soul leaned forward pulled her into an intimate embrace. "Maka, I don't just worry about you because you're my technician. I worry about you because you're my best friend…if anything ever happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. In that way, you've saved me more times than I can count."

With that her tears became full on sobbing. All he could do was hold her and pray that she would fall asleep soon. As her crying became quieter, he gingerly pulled away and felt her forehead. She was still blazing, which would account for her altered personality and self pity. Maka groaned, interrupting his wayward thoughts, and she opened her eyes, blinking away the blurriness from her vision.

"Soul…thank you."

That was all he needed to know that she would be alright.

*

I would like to continue this story, but as usual, updates will be slow and far between. Hope you enjoyed it.

-Pink Pagoda


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

*

Slowly awakening from her deep sleep, Maka raised her head off her pillow and her eyes darted towards the source of the noise that woke her up. The sounds of clanging pots and pans caught her attention. She got up, dragging the blanket with her, and stumbled lazily into the kitchen.

Being able to stand without support was a good sign, she thought as she made her way towards the noise. Soul heard her soft footsteps and turned to her, surprised that she was already awake.

"Maka, I didn't know you were up." he said as he walked towards her, smiling because she seemed more stable than she had the previous night.

"Way to state the obvious, genius."

"you really must be feeling better if you're willing to be so mean-though I'll only be truly convinced once you've given me a serious 'Maka chop'." His smile faltered a little as he raised his hand to her forehead, and found that it still contained much of the same heat that it had the night before. "Maka, you've still got a fever."

"Again with the obvious statements…" She trailed off, but the comment had contained less of a biting quality than before. She made her way to their couch, and sat down with the blanket draped across her fevered body.

Soul followed and sat down next to her. He hesitated before saying what he feared would be a mistake, but he wanted to cheer her up. "Maka…do you feel well enough to stay here while I go get our homework?"

Her eyes lit up a small fraction, and she quickly gave him an affirmative nod. "Would you please? I don't know what else to do all day."

"Sure, but I'll be back soon. And don't do anything while I'm gone-I don't want you getting worse. I'll bring you back some medicine from the store. Do you want anything else?"

"No, I'm okay. I guess I just need a few more hours of sleep."

With that he grabbed his coat and was out the door before her fevered mind could process that he was gone. She turned on the TV and watched random cartoons. She felt her eyelids droop, and finally stopped resisting and she felt herself fall into another deep slumber.

*

"I'm home." He waited for a reply, and was dismayed to hear no one answer him. "Maka, are you here?"

Before he could worry, he found her where he had left her, lying on the couch, her chest slowly moving up and down.

"Now you've got the right idea." He moved to sit next to her gently eased her shoulder onto his, thinking it would be more comfortable for his ailed meister. He closed his eyes, and quickly joined her in dreamland.

*

'_Soul…Soul where are you….?'_

_She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, as it matched the quick movement of her feet on the ground. _

_She was running in one direction, but getting nowhere all at once. _

'_Come on Soul, I need you…where are you!!!???'_

_She stopped and put her hands on her knees as she panted furiously._

'_Oh, Shinigami. Why can't I find you?'_

'_Because I found him first.' Her quickly beating heart nearly stopped as her mind was invaded by the cold icy toned voice._

_She turned around cautiously, and her eyes were met with a terribly frightening sight. Soul was dangling from the sharp fangs of a monster. Blood was dripping from the assailants claws; blood that could only belong to her hurt partner. _

'_Soul!!! Sooulll!!!' She ran towards him, unsure how, but knowing that she had to everything in her power to save her weapon._

'_You're too late girl; he's too far gone for you to save him now.'_

'_No! That can't be true-he's Soul, my weapon. He's always there! He promised that he would always be there!'_

'_Well he broke that promise now didn't he?' _

_Rage consumed, and she ran blindly at the ominous shape before her. She was so filled with anger and hatred that she hardly noticed as her arm transformed into a sharp blade. _

'_Give him back! Give me back my Soul!!!!!' She screamed as she made contact with the monster. She flew back and cried as she crumpled to the ground like a rag doll._

'_There's really nothing you can do. No matter how strong you get, I will always be stronger.' Her cries of pain turned into sobs, and she shook._

*

"Maka…Maka wake up please-you're having a nightmare!" He pleaded and shook her until finally she opened her eyes, and gasped in surprise. "Maka are you okay?"

Gaining her attention, Soul watched as her eyes met his, slowly gaining recognition. "Soul…you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay…but I'm starting to think that I shouldn't have left to go get our homework." He placed his hand firmly on her forehead before scowling and getting up off the couch. "It's time that we use a thermometer to keep track of that fever of yours." He pulled her off the couch, and frowned as she stumbled after him. Without letting go of her hand, and before she could protest, he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bathroom.

Setting her down on the ground next to the tub, he placed their thermometer in her mouth and waited for it to register. No words were exchanged as they waited. Maka started to feel nauseas, but held it at bay, wishing she would better: not continually worse. The thermometer beeped when it was done, and Soul pulled the device from her limp lips. "38.5 degrees…Maka this is really high."

"I know." She could only let out the two words without throwing up. Swallowing briskly, she closed her eyes willing away the spinning.

"Maka…what's wrong?" Before she could answer, she felt her stomach rebel, and dragged herself weakly to the toilet before collapsing in front of it and releasing. Panting between bouts of illness, Maka whined as tears streamed down her face from effort.

"Soul…please! Make it stop."

*


End file.
